


It Was Clear That Day, So We Faked It

by Chash



Series: Charity Drive 2017 [7]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hollywood, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 21:24:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9845537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: Nathan Miller, on the set of five episodes of Princess Proper.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brightcopperpenny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightcopperpenny/gifts).



**Episode 101, "Princess Pilot"**

Nate's dad gets him the job. He's not thrilled about it, would have rather had Nate go to college before he started in the business, but he doesn't need a degree to do the work he wants to do, or at least not the kind his dad is thinking of; he got his certification in high school, and he can get more education if he needs. But he just wants to get started working, not waste time and money on a liberal arts degree.

He's not _convinced_ his dad selected _Princess Proper_ just to make him regret his career choices. Nate's sure it was the job he could get.

But, seriously, the fucking _Disney Channel_?

On the bright side, the show does have Bellamy. He's a couple years younger than Nate, but feels a lot older, which isn't uncommon with actors. But Bellamy has actual normal--or, okay, fucking _weird_ \--life experience that aged him, instead of people like Clarke and Monty and Jasper, who are fine, but have the kind of life experience that Nate can't really relate to. His dad works in the industry, but he's had a pretty normal life, up until this point. He attended a normal school all the way through high-school graduation, and now he's got a job. 

If Bellamy seems older than he is, it's because he's had way too much responsibility since birth, but in a way that makes it easy for Nate to relate to him, makes him easy to talk to.

Mostly because he thinks the show is as ridiculous as Nate does.

"It's barely even started," Clarke tells them, clearly amused. He likes Clarke too, although he doesn't think they'll ever be _friends_ , like he thinks he and Bellamy will be.

It doesn't help that Bellamy clearly has a thing for her, which is a little disappointing for Nate. The guy is hot; Nate's only human. 

But he's probably straight, and even if he isn't, he has a thing for a Disney Channel actress, which seems like a sign of poor taste, no matter how generally cool Clarke is and how much Nate broadly likes both of them. 

"We've seen the scripts, though," Bellamy says. "It's definitely ridiculous. You know it and I know it and the American people know it."

"The American people don't know it yet," says Monty. He's fifteen and kind of gangly, but nice enough. "I assume that's something they figure out, you know. Once it starts airing. Right now they're still innocent."

"I think the American people are going to see it coming," he huffs.

"If anything, the pilot is actually going to lull them into a false sense of security," Clarke muses. Apparently she's done with defending the show and is now ready to mock it like the rest of them. It makes Nate like her a lot more, honestly. Maybe he'll get over the mild jealousy thing soon. That'd be nice.

"You think?" Bellamy asks.

"The wackiness isn't really in full force yet. It's just kind of--generic Disney stuff," she says, with the air of someone who knows way too much about this. Which she definitely does. Clarke Griffin has seen some shit.

"The writing's on the wall, though," says Bellamy, and counts on his fingers. "You've got the younger sibling who has his own less serious side plots, the two incompetent side characters who just screw shit up--no offense, Monty," he adds, with a nod.

"None taken. I know what I am."

"It's pretty obvious what kind of show this is going to be. Clarke and Finn probably get to be serious in the second season. I'm like ninety percent serious. But it's going to have really goofy side for the kids that'll undermine all the other stuff we're doing, like--" He huffs. "Okay, the actual stuff we're going to be doing isn't going to be great either. Shitty love triangle, middle-school understanding of politics, whatever."

"There's no love triangle," Clarke pipes up, helpful. "Marcus doesn't like them."

"I will bet you money we hook up by the end of the show," Bellamy says, and Clarke smiles.

"Yeah, no. I'm just saying it's not going to be a _love triangle_. I'll date Finn second season and then switch to you." One of the Disney guys sticks his head in and gestures for her, and she rolls her eyes. "Okay, interview I guess. Have fun, guys."

"I'm not having fun until I get to fight a muppet," says Monty.

"That sounds like a season three plot to me," says Bellamy. His eyes flick to Nate. "What do you think, Miller?"

"About what?"

"I want to know about this money bet," says Monty. He flashes Nate a smile. "Sorry, Miller. But I could make some cash here."

"You think Ian and Penny aren't going to end up together?"

"I'll give you ten-to-one odds," he says. "If they get together, I'll give you ten bucks, but if they _don't_ , I get a hundred."

Bellamy thinks it over. "Yeah, sure." They shake, and he turns his attention back to Nate again. He seems to want to make sure he's included, which is kind of cute. "You want in on this action?"

Nate snorts. "Nah, I'm set. I'll just go with the flow. Wait and see how it turns out."

"It's gonna be a total fucking mess," Bellamy says, like he's looking forward to it. 

"Yeah, yeah," Nate agrees. "Can't wait."

 

**Episode 205, "Plenty More Fish in the Sea"**

"I thought getting rid of Penny's little brother would help, you know?"

Bellamy has flopped down next to Nate between takes. He's filming less with Clarke this year and clearly vaguely bitter about it, and Nate can't exactly blame him. He gets much better material when he's with Clarke. 

"It's your own fault for being good at broad comedy," Nate says, clapping him on the shoulder. 

"I love it when you sweet talk me. Tell me more about how great I am at flirting with a cat puppet."

"I'm just saying, I think Kane is just writing this shit hoping he hits something you can't actually do. And every time you do, he has to try harder."

"What I'm getting from this is that you think I'm incredibly handsome and talented and amazing. And humble."

Nate snorts. "Yep. That's exactly it." He pauses. "What's Clarke got this week?"

"The usual. Worrying about her relationship and her power. She's good at it, don't get me wrong," he adds, as if he's worried Nate somehow doesn't realize Clarke is Bellamy's favorite person in the universe and he thinks she's perfect at everything. "But it would be nice if she got to do something different for a change."

"Yeah, I'm sure she's torn up that she isn't discovering the furry side of online dating."

"It's not furries if it's actual cat," Clarke says, flopping down in the seat next to Bellamy. "Furries are, you know, people in animal costumes. This is just good, old-fashioned bestiality."

"Thanks for that semantics lesson," Bellamy shoots back. He pauses. "Is it really bestiality if I don't know it's a cat? Like, I'm not _trying_ for that. It's just happening."

"Is reverse bestiality a thing, or is that like reverse racism?" Clarke muses.

"Anthrophilia," says Bellamy, because he's that kind of nerd, and he and Clarke deserve each other. "I think."

"My phone says that's sexual attraction to, uh, non-human humanoids," Nate supplies. He's happy to be on google duty, as long as it involves making fun of Bellamy for his ridiculous plotlines and life.

Clarke clucks her tongue. "Honestly, there probably _isn't_ a word for reverse bestiality. We here at _Princess Proper_ are inventing entirely new kinks."

"I'm sure the cat has a word for it," says Nate. "It knows what it is."

"I hate you guys," Bellamy grumbles.

"At least you don't have to date Finn Collins," Nate points out, and he and Bellamy high five.

"He's not _that_ bad," Clarke says, but she's smiling, because she's a smart girl who definitely knows that Finn is in all ways inferior to Bellamy, and probably to most cats.

"Uh huh," says Bellamy.

"I'd rather act opposite to a cat than opposite to Finn," Nate adds. 

"You'd rather never be on camera if you could possibly avoid it, so your opinion doesn't count for much."

"Cat would be more embarrassing, though, so if I'd rather do that than Finn, you know Finn's bad."

"Aren't you supposed to pretend to be unbiased or something?" Bellamy asks, amused.

"Everyone knows you're Miller's favorite," Clarke says, clapping him on the shoulder. "That's not news."

"So, what, the scene-partner preference is me, cat, Finn?" 

Clarke's eyes flick to Nate. "That's where I'd put it. Miller?"

"Oh yeah, no question."

Bellamy looks like he's trying not to smile too much. "You guys are really missing out on how great it is acting opposite a computer-literate cat."

"Maybe next season," Clarke says, and Nate just rolls his eyes.

"Not if you paid me."

 

**Episode 220, "Hard Rock Soft Place"**

"Nate can do it."

Nate startles; Monty is the only one who calls him Nate on set, and he's still not sure how it happened. Most of the crew go by their last names, and he doesn't even know half of their first names. He has no idea how Monty got in the habit.

"Do what?" he asks.

"We just need an extra for this scene. You look like you could be in high school."

"Aren't you supposed to cast people for that? Why are you recruiting from the crew?"

"I think it would make more sense if I was talking to someone before Jasper and I have the fight," Monty explains. "And here you are, so--come talk to me."

"Don't I have to get a SAG card if I talk on screen? I don't want a SAG card, Monty. I actively want to not have a SAG card."

"You're not going to be audible. Literally just an extra I'm talking to." He pauses, looks around to make sure no one's paying attention to them anymore, and then leans in close. Which Nate doesn't get, until he adds, "Look, I'm working this thing where I'm trying to signal that Tristan is gay, because the show is never going to give me a love interest and I'm bitter. So you can be the hot guy I'm talking to, okay?"

"You're bitter that you're not getting a love interest?" Nate asks, because Monty's giving him a lot to process here.

"Alex gets tons of romantic failure subplots, and I don't get any. And if Ian doesn't get with Penny, I'm going to call shenanigans on the show's entire relationship with Asian-American guys and romance. Even if Ian does get other romantic subplots," he grants. "You know the pitch for the show involved him and Penny hooking up, so if they don't, it's about Bellamy."

"Yeah," he says. He still hasn't caught up with the conversation. "So you're just--being gay?"

"I'm dropping as many hints as possible, and if I ever get a female love interest, I can still be bi," he says. "You know. If anyone asks me in a few years after I'm done working for Disney and they can't hurt me anymore."

"And if you're talking to me, that'll help with that? Don't you talk to guys all the time?"

"And I flirt with them," Monty says, bright. "So, yeah. You can definitely help."

Nate likes Monty. He's a nice guy, even if they don't interact that much. It always feels like they should interact _more_ , because Monty is cool, and Nate likes him, but he doesn't really know how to just make the leap to friendship. Bellamy remains the person on the show he's closest to, and they don't even hang out that much, off set. Every other week or so.

Nate might not be great at friendship, in retrospect. And this might not be the best way to learn, but--well, if Monty's got a system, Nate's not going to ruin it for him.

"If you need a guy, I can do it," he says.

"Great!" says Monty. "Come on."

The scene is basically nothing, all of two minutes, just Tristan and Alex having a fight about their scheme of the week, which is about Alex trying to leverage Penny's power to get dates, and Tristan telling him it's sketchy, and it culminates at the rock concert that's the rest of the cast's A-plot. So Nate is in makeup for half an hour, and then does five takes of his scene, which takes another half an hour, and then he's done. No big deal, really.

"I can't believe you didn't even have to get in a fight with two elementary-school kids in a trenchcoat," Bellamy grumbles. "I needed backup. They fought dirty."

"Yeah, they don't let you do that unless you've got a SAG card. I'm not at that level yet."

"This is why I make the big bucks," he agrees, and slants Nate a contemplative look. "So, Monty's higher than me?"

"Huh?"

"On your acting scale. Monty, me, cat, Finn? That's how the preference goes?"

Nate rolls his eyes. "Dude, they needed an extra. Don't be jealous. You know you're still my number one."

Bellamy rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I better be."

 

**Episode 311, "The Dance"**

"So, how badly is Bellamy going to fuck this up?"

Nate raises his eyebrows at Monty. "You think Bellamy's going to be the one who fucks it up?"

"You think Clarke is?"

Nate really thinks about it. In theory, there is nothing about Penny and Ian kissing that requires a meltdown from Bellamy and Clarke. They're both, in theory, professionals. And they're good at their jobs. Bellamy plays Ian as in love with Penny because everyone knew it was coming, and he wasn't going to let anyone act like he wasn't prepared, but when Ian was in other relationships, he committed to those too, and Clarke did the same. Even when she had to pretend to be into Finn.

But they're also teenagers who are obviously in love with each other, so Nate can't really think it's going to be anything but a fucking trainwreck.

"I'll put ten bucks on Bellamy screwing it up," Monty says.

"How are we defining screwing it up?" Nate asks. "Like, what does that entail?"

"I think we'll know it when we see it."

"This sounds like you conning me out of ten bucks."

Monty grins. "Hey, I'm very trustworthy. If Clarke's the one who screws up, I'll totally give you the ten bucks. I gave Bellamy the ten bucks when Ian was in love with Penny."

"I still can't believe you bet against that."

"Worth it. I might have a gambling problem."

"So if I agree to this, I'm enabling you."

Monty grins. "Definitely."

The thing about Monty is that--well, he's _cute_. Nate's been an extra in three scenes with him now, and Monty will sometimes come over and tell him about how the internet has _noticed_ , and they've come up with a name for Nate's extra character, and a whole backstory about how they're dating, and how awesome it is, and how he's definitely going to confirm on twitter as soon as the show is over.

Nate is hoping he's going to get updates on it, after the show is over. Over coffee, maybe.

He's possibly even worse at dating than he is a friendship, and that's saying something.

"Okay," he says. "Deal. Ten bucks says Clarke's the one who screws it up."

As scenes go, it's kind of sad, at least in terms of set. Not _bad_ , just--it takes place "outside," but they're filming on a sound stage, because they never film on location, and there's this very sad fake car and just--sometimes Miller hates the Disney Channel, honestly.

But at least they all get to heckle Bellamy and Clarke. That's important.

"You ready?" Nate asks him.

Bellamy rolls his eyes. "I've been ready for this for years, remember? Not a big deal."

"I'm pretty sure that makes it worse. Come on, if you fuck it up, you're going to hate yourself forever."

Bellamy snorts. "Wow. Thanks. This is really helping."

Nate claps him on the shoulder. "You'll be fine."

Bellamy's smile is a little soft as he looks at Clarke, and Nate realizes with a sudden, sharp stab that it happened. He doesn't know when, or how, but it definitely did. They're totally dating.

"Yeah," he says. "I'm not worried."

The first take, it's completely quiet, right up until Bellamy is stepping in, and then Jasper says, "Penny and Ian, sitting in a tree," and Monty joins in for, "K-I-S-S," and the rest of the crew picks up on, "I-N-G," and Clarke giggles and drops her forehead onto his shoulder.

"This is really helpful, guys," Bellamy says, dry. "Thanks."

Roan smiles, of course; he's Nate's favorite of their directors. Unlike Kane, he doesn't consider the material to be beneath him, and has the correct attitude toward the entire project, which is that it's absurd and ridiculous and should actually be fun.

"Take two?" he asks.

"Bunch of amateurs on this show," Bellamy mutters, with a fond smile at Clarke. "Ready?"

"So ready," she says, and, yeah, they're definitely fucking. It took them long enough.

Bellamy gets out of the car again, and Clarke smiles up at him, looking worn out and a little heartbroken. "I didn't think you were going to make it," she says, in her Penny voice. It's always weird, watching them slip into different people.

They're way too good for this show.

"I wasn't at the dance anyway," Bellamy says.

Clarke worries her lip. "I thought you were going with--"

"No."

Clarke looks down at her hands, smiles a little, and then nods and stands. "Cool." When Bellamy's still just looking at her, she adds, "So, um, are we going?"

"In a minute," he says, takes a step forward, trips on his own foot, and plows into Clarke.

She catches him, laughing. "Wow. You've got so much game."

"Game coming out my ears," he agrees.

"Don't act like you've never kissed her before," Roan says, with an amused roll of his eyes.

Bellamy is the picture of innocence. "Aren't I supposed to be acting like I've never kissed her before? This is supposed to be our first kiss."

Everyone jeers at that, and Nate's the one who calls, "Which number kiss is this exactly, Blake?"

It earns him a middle finger from Bellamy, but Clarke just gives him a sweet smile. "A gentleman never tells," she says, and the third take is perfect. 

"He screwed up," Monty tells Nate, low. "Ten bucks for me." And then, to Bellamy, "That was an excellent impression of someone who has never kissed Clarke."

Bellamy rolls his eyes. "Thanks, I practiced."

Once they've moved on, Nate leans in close to Monty. "Double or nothing? I say they tell us they're dating in under a week."

"Deal," says Monty, and they shake.

The next, Monty says, "Caught them in his dressing room," and gives Nate a twenty.

He doesn't stop smiling for half an hour.

 

**Episode 322, "Princess Parting"**

"It's just one line."

"I don't want a line," Nate says, crossing his arms.

"Come on, it's a great shout-out to a lot of kids who care about this."

"The fake relationship that you put into the show by sheer force of will," he says.

"If Bellamy can do it, I can do it."

"I'm an inspiration," says Bellamy. "What did I do? What are you doing? I wasn't paying attention."

"Monty's been dropping hints that Tristan is gay and the extra I play is his secret boyfriend for two seasons, so now he wants me to have a line to confirm the internet conspiracy theories."

"Awesome," says Bellamy, and he and Monty high five. "What's the line?"

"You know how earlier Alex said Tristan was going to the same school as Jake and Holly? I just say, _Hurry up, Jake!_ and he says, _Coming_. That's the fan name for Nate's character, so even if he doesn't have the line, they'll take it as a shout out. But the line is better."

"How did you talk Kane into this?"

"By giving him as little information as possible," Monty says, unrepentant.

"Awesome. Yeah, you should do it," Bellamy adds, to Nate. "That sounds great.

"It's one word. It's barely even a line," Monty wheedles.

"One word," Nate agrees, because Monty is smiling at him, and way too cute, and he's all for sneaking queer content onto the Disney Channel. They can't count on Lucas Grabeel to do all their work for them.

It's really not a big deal, they finish it in two takes, and since Nate's already in makeup and around, they stick him into the last scene of the show, one more extra at graduation.

And they stick him next to Monty, so when everyone else throws their hats up, he just leans over and kisses him.

Roan doesn't say anything, but as soon as Kane notices, he shouts, "Cut!" But Monty's hand is already on Nate's jaw and, and he's definitely kissing back.

"What?" Nate hears Clarke ask, but they're still kissing. It's _awesome_. "Oh," she adds, so presumably Bellamy pointed them out.

"Once more, without--excessive celebration," Kane says, and Nate grins at Monty.

"I bet you can find that tape and leak it. For the fans."

"For the fans, huh?"

He smiles. "Yeah. You want a kiss for anyone else, you should find me at the cast party."

Monty's grin is _blinding_. "I'll keep that in mind."

Bellamy says, "Hey guys, take two," all stern, but he snakes his hand behind him, and Nate gives him the high five.

"Take two," he agrees, and they nail that one, and once Roan calls cut, everyone is hugging and laughing, and Bellamy twirls Clarke around and kisses her, and when Monty slides his hand into Nate's, it's easy to squeeze back.

"I can't believe I risked getting a SAG card for you," Nate grumbles, and Monty grins.

"My hero."

"All right!" Kane calls. "That's a wrap on _Princess Proper_. Good job, everyone."

"First job ever," Bellamy says, finding Nate again in the crowd of celebration. "I think we did pretty well." He offers a hug, and Nate gives him that too. It's a good day. He's overflowing with affection for his fellow humans.

"Yeah," he agrees. "Not a bad start."


End file.
